Modern electrical circuits include software and hardware components. In many cases the software is copied in order to save development cost. The cloned software can be used by third parties on the same hardware platform that did not invest in developing the software and can provide cheaper products then the original developer of the software.
The hackers can download the software in various manners, and can even use devices testing and debugging capabilities to learn about the software.
Various attempts were made to prevent software cloning and/or to secure integrated circuits. U.S. patent application number 2003/0177373 of Moyer et al., titled “Integrated circuit security and method therefore”, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes an integrated circuit that provides a security key base integrated circuit protection scheme.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,898,776 of Apland et al. titled “security antifuse that prevents readout of some but not other information from a programmed filed programmable gate array”, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes an antifuse that can be programmed to disable access to a JTAG boundary scan register, while allowing access to a JTAG bypass register.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,942 of Dent, titled “Authentication system for digital cellular communication”, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a system and method that is used for authenticating mobile stations and base stations in a cellular communication network that uses a rolling key that includes historical information.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,005 of Bharathan et al., titled “Cloning protection scheme for a digital information playback device”, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method and apparatus for cloning protection of a player. A unique identifier is required in order to enable the playback. The unique identifier is communicated to a server.
U.S. patent application publication serial number 2003/0061488 of Huebler at el., titled “Cloning protection for electronic equipment” which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method and apparatus for protecting electronic devices from cloning that employ and electronic signature generated from an identification code for the electronic device, an international mobile equipment identifier, and a unique unchangeable identification for a hardware component of the electronic device code.
There is a need to provide efficient method and device for cloning protection and reverse engineering prevention.